‘m a sucker for goodreads’ Reading Challenges. My to-read list has over 200 books on it. Deciding which of the 200+ books to read next is a challenge in and of itself. The reading challenges help me sort through that list and pick what I will read next.
Last year I participated in the A to Z challenge, where participants read one book for each letter of the alphabet – either the title or the author’s name (first or last) has to start with the selected letter. Surprisingly, Y gave me the most trouble, which is how I discovered Moira Young’s Dustlands series. This year I am once again doing the A to Z Challenge, but I’m also doing the 50 states challenge, inspired by Epic Read’s The United States of YA, where you read a book set in each of the 50 United States.
Planning out my year’s worth of books may seem odd. I’m pretty sure my husband was humoring me when I was explaining what I was doing all evening last night. And sometimes my reading challenge lists change if a new book is released or I see something intriguing at the library. And my challenge lists do not encompass everything I will read for the upcoming year.
For me, planning out my reading is relaxing. It allows me to revisit books I wanted to read, but have forgotten why I wanted to read them. I can reevaluate my reading interests and find new books to get excited about. Also, as with Blood Red Road, the reading challenges help me discover new authors and books.
